Until recently, image processing systems have generally processed images, such as frames of video, still photographs, and the like in an individual manner. After processing, the individual images are combined to form a mosaic, i.e., an image that contains a plurality of individual images. Additional image processing is performed on the mosaic to ensure that the seams between the images are invisible such that the mosaic looks like a single large image. The alignment was previously done manually by a technician to remove the seams. In such computer aided processing systems, the technician manually selects processed images, manually aligns those images, and a computer applies various images combining processes to the images to remove any seams or gaps between the images.
One problem that has been noted with respect to video mosaics is that the video mosaics produce low resolution images because the video images are low resolution images. One proposed solution is disclosed in a final Technical Report No. RL-TR-96-21, entitled “Multiframe Integration for High-Resolution Video Stills”, by Dr. Robert L. Stevenson and Dr. Richard R. Schultz. Although the solution proposed in this report provides excellent results, the drawback to the solution is there requires significant processing complexity. A need still exists in the art for an image enhancement process which can be performed by computer processing equipment mounted on an unmanned aeriel vehicle (UAV).